


we may whisper once more (it's you I adore)

by tartymoriarty



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: M/M, Maycury Week, Soft Boys, post Hot Space, reconnection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 07:22:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20503088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tartymoriarty/pseuds/tartymoriarty
Summary: There was an awful time in the middle of it all when Brian thought they might not recover from the tension and the arguments and the ugly words thrown out in anger, but they did. Against the odds, the band scraped out alive, and his and Freddie’s relationship with it.After everything, Brian wants to do something nice for Freddie.





	we may whisper once more (it's you I adore)

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "I've got a surprise for you."

"I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Freddie looks up and his expression quickly cycles through various stages; first there’s eagerness, because a surprise for you means _I thought of you when you weren’t there, at some point, and I’ve planned something I think you’ll like._ Freddie loves spontaneity but more than that, he loves to know that he’s in people’s thoughts, that they don’t forget him the moment he leaves a room.

He’s hardly ever not in Brian’s thoughts, as it is, but that is neither here nor there.

After eagerness there’s wariness. Brian winces inwardly at the sight of it but is careful not to let his own trepidation show.

He thinks a little bit of uncertainty might be deserved. Things are better now, but sometimes it does feel like they’re still re-finding their feet. After all the unpleasantness of _Hot Space_, the frosty atmosphere of the Munich studio and the distance between them, all of them… well. They’ve all learned difficult lessons about trust, ones that Brian would quite like to _un_-learn, if he could. He thinks (hopes) Freddie might feel the same way.

The wariness fades and is replaced by something much more welcome: a shy sort of hope, which suits Freddie much better.

Brian suddenly feels absurdly nervous. It’s stupid, he’s almost certain Freddie will like the surprise, and even if he doesn’t, Freddie is kind enough to pretend he does and save Brian’s feelings.

So he holds out his hand and lets Freddie see the tickets he’s holding, hoping that they will speak for themselves.

Freddie looks down at them and reaches out to take them, curious. When he reads the text on the tickets his face lights up, and it’s such a genuine look of delight that Brian can’t help but smile back at him, relieved.

“Oh darling, you didn’t have to do this!” Freddie exclaims, beaming. He’s not hiding his smile and Brian’s heart thumps unevenly for it. He reads the date and time and then glances up at Brian. “Are they for - ?” He trails off.

Brian thinks he might be doing it to give Brian a get-out clause, if he wants one. _You don’t have to come with me. I know it’s not your thing. I don’t mind. I’ll go alone. I’ll find someone else._

It’s not Brian’s thing, but he wants to be Freddie’s someone else. He nods. “I thought we could go together,” he says.

Freddie looks touched. “Thank you, Bri. It’s so kind of you – ”

“It’s nothing,” Brian says automatically, then stops. “I don’t mean that as in – what I mean is… I would like to go with you. If you’d like me to.”

“I’d love that,” Freddie tells him. He’s holding the tickets close to his chest, reverent. “Shall we meet there?”

In for a penny, in for a pound; Brian shakes his head. “My driver can pick you up,” he says. He forces himself not to add _it’s on the wa_y as though that’s all it is, a casual lift between friends; that might well be all this ends up being but he’s determined not to brush this evening off as nothing when he wants it to be something.

They’ve talked about the issues they’ve faced over the past couple of years, as a band and as individuals. They all had demons to exorcise, after all. There was an awful time in the middle of it all when Brian thought they might not recover from the tension and the arguments and the ugly words thrown out in anger, but they did. Against the odds, the band scraped out alive, and his and Freddie’s relationship with it.

Freddie’s _Soul Brother_ song was a pivotal moment in that survival – the open emotion and affection of it, laid bare by Freddie at a time when love was in short supply. Freddie is brave with his feelings despite the way the world attacks him for it, and Brian is determined that this time, he will follow Freddie’s example. He won’t hide behind pretences.

_Soul Brother_ and its sweet honesty is what gave him the idea to do this, after all; to do something nice for Freddie, just because he wants to and because Freddie deserves it. An opportunity for them to spend time together doing something Freddie enjoys. Not to re-connect, because they’d done that, mostly, but… to grow closer again.

Freddie is looking at him with soft eyes. “I’ll be ready for six,” he says.

“See you then.”

“Brian?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. Really.”

-

When Freddie opens the car door and slides into the backseat beside Brian, Brian has to do a double take.

It’s the Freddie he saw earlier in the day, of course it is; he’s slicked his hair back more and his moustache looks pristine, not a hair out of place. At the same time, he’s got a look of the Freddie that Brian grew so used to in the early years of the band, a fluffy-haired bolt of energy in a body surely too small and slender to hold such an enormous personality.

It takes Brian a moment to recognise what reminds him so strongly of a younger Freddie, and then he realises – it’s his clothes. He’s wearing a black blazer with multicoloured stripes that Brian used to see him and Roger in regularly, in the _Sheer Heart Attack_ days, with a dark satin shirt underneath and fitted black trousers. Brian hasn’t seen him venture far from jeans and trainers in what seems like an absolute age, but the sight of new look Freddie wearing the clothes of old look Freddie comforts Brian in a way he didn’t even realise he needed.

(It’s not_ new look Freddie_, not anymore; it’s been nearly two years, though the knowledge of that makes Brian feel dizzy.)

Freddie has noticed him staring, naturally. “What?” he asks.

He sounds self-conscious. Brian mentally curses himself. “Just wondering if Rog knows you’ve still got his jacket,” he says lightly, relaxing when Freddie grins.

“He thinks he stole it from you to begin with,” Freddie tells him, buckling up his seat belt as Brian’s driver sets off again.

Brian frowns, suddenly suspicious. “Did he?”

“Definitely not. The arms aren’t nearly long enough for you, darling. But it suits me to let him think it’s not his, so…”

Brian shakes his head, amused. “I did always like it,” he ventures, because it’s true and because Freddie looks lovely and he isn’t sure how to say that, how to turn it into words that won’t seem like an empty compliment.

Freddie smiles at him. “Me too,” he says simply. He looks at Brian’s outfit and adds, “You’re looking rather suave yourself, darling.”

Brian smooths a hand self-consciously down his thigh. “I wasn’t sure how dressy to go, so I thought…” He’s gone for a suit, but with a more casual shirt on underneath. He thinks he and Freddie look fairly evenly matched in terms of dressiness, which is a relief.

Freddie laughs. “Oh, they’ll all be dressed up to the nines,” he says fondly. “They always are. But they always look like they’re wearing some kind of uniform when they just go for black and white penguin suits, and… where’s the fun in that, really?”

“There’s more fun in this,” Brian agrees, reaching out and thumbing one of the colourful stripes on Freddie’s shoulder. It’s only a tiny touch, but he feels ridiculously pleased that he made himself do it, that he didn’t shy back.

And Freddie lets him. He doesn’t try to pull away, or scoff at Brian for his lack of knowledge on the latest fashions, or launch into a story about this friend or that friend, always people Brian doesn’t know, always a very loose definition of _friend_. He just chats with Brian, warm and at ease, and Brian thinks it’s entirely possible that he’s never felt so glad of anything in his life.

-

They stop before the show for a drink at a quiet bar not far from the Royal Opera House, one where Brian knows they can find some privacy so they don’t risk getting mobbed by people who take one look at Freddie’s moustache or Brian’s hair and start screaming the lyrics of _Bohemian Rhapsody_.

Freddie has two vodka tonics and Brian has a couple of whiskeys, and when it’s time they walk around the corner to the Royal Opera House side-by-side. They’re close enough that their shoulders would bump if their height difference wasn’t so stark, and if Brian was a braver man he would throw caution to the wind and catch hold of Freddie’s hand when it brushes his – but he’s not, though he’s getting there, and he doesn’t want to risk this night by drawing the kind of attention that neither of them want. So he doesn’t take Freddie’s hand but he doesn’t beat himself up for it, and Freddie leans into him just a little bit anyway as they wait to take their seats, and that’s good enough for Brian.

It’s really something getting to see Freddie’s face as they walk into their box and sit down. He’s been here before, Brian knows he has – he’s performed on that stage just the once – but the way he looks around at all the splendour, all wide-eyed and awed, makes Brian want to take the Royal Opera House apart piece by piece just so he can gift it to Freddie.

“I love it here,” Freddie murmurs, his eyes moving from the magnificent domed ceiling to the plush maroon velvets to the people, small below them, filling the auditorium with their chatter and warmth and lives. “I feel like we’re in our own little world up here. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“It is,” Brian says, but he can’t take his eyes away from Freddie.

When Freddie finally tears his eyes away from their setting and looks back at Brian, Brian offers him a small smile.

Freddie reaches out and touches the back of Brian’s hand. “Thank you so much for this, darling,” he says softly. “It’s so lovely of you, I appreciate it so much.”

“You’re welcome, Freddie,” Brian says honestly. The lights dim and Freddie smiles at him one last time before he looks towards the stage expectantly.

The opera begins with a swell of powerful, pure voices, and it might not be Brian’s thing but he can appreciate the beauty of it – he finds himself getting drawn in more than he expected, though he’s listening rather than watching because Freddie is a performance in himself. He’s unapologetic and open in his responses, gasping and laughing, becoming tearful towards the end.

Brian watches him and listens to the glorious music and he thinks that he might finally have found the peace he was looking for all that time, through Hot Space and its tribulations.

And all the while, Freddie’s hand never moves from his.


End file.
